Gracie Wins! JGP Tallinn Cup 2011 - Result & Videos

Fantastic performance by Gracie. What a shame she won't be in the JGPF. I just think its ridiculous that with Lipnitskaya and Gold being the two class acts to emerge from this years JGP series, that one of them won't be in the final simply because she was not assigned a second competition. However, Gracie should be at Junior Worlds and that will be a competition to savour. I think the Russian newbies are fantastic, but at least we now have another great junior from somewhere on this planet of ours other than from Russia. As with all sports, figure skating requires diversity. Obviously, the reason why so many are emerging from Russia at the moment is the fact that the Olympics are being held there in 2014 - so a lot of work has been done.

As for Gracie, I think she is the best American ladies figure skater to emerge since Sasha Cohen (who happened to be my favourite skater between 2001 and her practical retirement in 2006. In fact, my number 1 most upsetting figure skating moment was her losing out to Arakawa at the 2006 Olympics. After such a great Short Program, the disastrous start to her Free Skate was just gut-wrenching. If only...However, you have got to hand it to Sasha - she fought back from that disastrous start to claim the Silver). Apologies Mirai, Alissa, and Rachael fans, but I just think that it will be Gracie who will be the main American challenge for the Olympic title come 2014 (unless somebody else also comes out of the Junior ranks). The only caveat I would add in relation to that is that if only Mirai could find greater consistency (i.e. stop messing up her Free Skates), then she certainly has the ability to launch a major challenge for the Olympic title in 2014. However, maybe after living through watching Sasha struggling to put two clean programs together in competition, perhaps I find Mirai just tooo exasperating...

Love Yuki Nishino's short program. Every time I see it, it takes me back to the very first time I watched the film, A Room With A view. Great film and great music. Its O Mio Babbino Caro from the opera, Gianni Schicchi, by Puccini. Just as an aside, here it is from the film - A Room With A View. The singer is Kiri Te Kanawa. I know its been done before by other skaters, but I think that Yuki Nishino has done a very good job with it. Here is great version by Kristi Yamaguchi - O Mio Babbino Caro - Kristi Yamaguchi. And another version by Josée Chouinard - O Mio Babbino Caro - Josée Chouinard. And another version by Gretchen Donlan & Andrew Speroff - Gretchen Donlan & Andrew Speroff - O Mio Babbino Caro And here is a compilation re my favourite skater, Mao Asada, to the music - O Mio Babbino Caro - Mao Asada (replacing the music to her 2008-2009 Short Program, Claire de Lune, in a pretty imaginative way). Caroline Zhang also did a version of it, but not been able to find a video for it.

Its a compilation replacing the music to her 2008-2009 Short Program, Claire de Lune. I think its a nice piece of work. Nevertheless, apologies for not making it clearer. I was in a rush to finish off the post before I was timed out (i.e. automatically logged out - which means you lose the whole post and have to start again. Not good when it takes a lot of time and effort to pull something like this together)

This is not specifically a Gracie thread. I have previously done a result and videos thread for each of the JGP heats which brings the result and videos for the 5 highest placed skaters together all in one place (i.e. convenience). Why should I not do the same for seventh and final heat having done all of the previous 6 simply because Gracie won? Gracie is obviously in the title because its the main headline grabber - but she is not the be all and end all of the thread simply because she won.

Gold was good. Although her SP music was all kinds of , but I thought she had more relation to the music there. She really just skated through the the music in the LP and seemed really rushed from beginning to end. Great jumps and speed though. Don't know if I'd have given her such generous PCS. But I think I've got the Junior PCS figured out. Speed and good skating skills seem to be the key. And if the skater has good PE, PCS will generally sky rocket. IN and CH are really a moot point for junior ladies.

No because guests cannot access the kiss & cry - only members. I compiled the thread for both members and guests and this is where I feel it should go so that all those who want to see the videos in a kind of one stop shop thread can view them. That's certainly the feedback I have been getting.

No because guests cannot access the kiss & cry - only members. I compiled the thread for both members and guests and this is where I feel it should go so that all those who want to see the videos in a kind of one stop shop thread can view them. That's certainly the feedback I have been getting.

Moreover, hardly anybody goes in the Kiss & Cry

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Lots of people go in the KnC (at least from what I see). Is it really too much to ask people to pay 5USD to get access to the KnC? Sorry Maofan7 but you posting these videos that would normally be in the KnC in the public forums really isn't fair to those of us who actually pay to have access to the KnC (this includes you btw). If guests want to see competition videos then they should either search for them outside the forum or become members and pay to get access to the competition forums.

Lots of people go in the KnC (at least from what I see). Is it really too much to ask people to pay 5USD to get access to the KnC? Sorry Maofan7 but you posting these videos that would normally be in the KnC in the public forums really isn't fair to those of us who actually pay to have access to the KnC (this includes you btw). If guests want to see competition videos then they should either search for them outside the forum or become members and pay to get access to the competition forums.

No, it is not. The people that pay to support this site expect that threads like this will be in the members only section. That is one of the perks of being a member - getting up to date and relevant figure skating competition information. If this thread was posted, say, next March when it wasn't current then I'd have no problem with it.

I really don't understand why Maofan7 (who is a member) persists in posting KnC style threads outside of KnC. Personally, I think this thread should not only be closed, it should be deleted.

modern_muslimah is right--these competition threads belong in the Kiss and Cry. Since we didn't have the K&C forum set up until just recently, we've been letting this go, but from now on, all comp threads go in the K&C. If you post them here, we will move them.

Lots of people go in the KnC (at least from what I see). Is it really too much to ask people to pay 5USD to get access to the KnC? Sorry Maofan7 but you posting these videos that would normally be in the KnC in the public forums really isn't fair to those of us who actually pay to have access to the KnC (this includes you btw). If guests want to see competition videos then they should either search for them outside the forum or become members and pay to get access to the competition forums.

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I don't really see how posting the videos is "unfair" to us paying members. They are available on youtube anyway.

modern_muslimah is right--these competition threads belong in the Kiss and Cry. Since we didn't have the K&C forum set up until just recently, we've been letting this go, but from now on, all comp threads go in the K&C. If you post them here, we will move them.

This is the first time I saw Risa skating. Sloppy body lines, bent knees, strange jump technique, and forgettable performance. Geez, she is overrated.

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Boo, well I think she's gorgeous and lovely. She reminds me of Arakawa and I think she deserves really high PCS. Her skating is very mature and elegant beyond her 15 years. If anything, I think she is often under-marked. Anyone else feel this way too?

No because guests cannot access the kiss & cry - only members. I compiled the thread for both members and guests and this is where I feel it should go so that all those who want to see the videos in a kind of one stop shop thread can view them. That's certainly the feedback I have been getting.

Moreover, hardly anybody goes in the Kiss & Cry

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Maofan7, as one of the FSU posters who doesn't have access to the Kiss & Cry, I appreciate you posting about Gracie Gold on here. Of course, I don't determine FSU policies and can't stop people from making an issue of it.

Maofan7, as one of the FSU posters who doesn't have access to the Kiss & Cry, I appreciate you posting about Gracie Gold on here. Of course, I don't determine FSU policies and can't stop people from making an issue of it.

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Many thanks. As I understand it, anything to do with current competitions and results needs to go in the K & C section. I think thats fair enough given the practical economics involved in funding a site like this. However, I understand that a discussion about a skater such as the Gracie Goes 4 Gold thread I did can go in to the Trash Can section or Great Skate Debate section (i.e. The public Forums) Hence, I think that those who run the site have therefore managed to strike the right balance. Accordingly, the discussion type threads about individual skaters that your referring to can continue to go in the public forums. It's only the results type ones that will need to go into the K&C